NFL
by Joey Pona

Antonio Brown released, again

Wide receiver Antonio Brown has been released – again – this time by the New England Patriots who signed him less than two weeks ago.

“We appreciate the hard work of many people over the past 11 days, but we feel that it is best to move in a different direction at this time,” the Patriots said in their statement.

Upon his release by the Patriots, Brown issued the following statement on Twitter:

Timeline of events:

September 10: Brown is accused of sexual assaulting his form trainer, Brittney Taylor, according to a civil lawsuit. Brown declined to sign a $2-million agreement with Taylor as terms of the settlement.

Monday: Brown is accused of another sexual assault on a female artist at his western Pennsylvania home in 2017. Brown is accused of a domestic violence situation, charity auction theft, and multiple unpaid debts.

Thursday: The lawyer of the artist reaches out to the NFL after she allegedly received text messages that were deemed “threatening.” The photos – first reported by Sports Illustrated – included a picture of the woman’s children, which she called “intimidating.” These are significant because they were sent as a member of the Patriots.

Friday: After surfacing photos of text messages sent by Brown to the artist are released, he is released from the Patriots.

With his release, Brown is currently an unrestricted free agent, eligible to sign with any club. However, the NFL has stated that if Brown does sign with another team he will be placed on the commissioner’s exempt list, meaning he will not be allowed to play until the investigation into these allegations is completed.

“It’s unfortunate things didn’t work out with the Patriots,” the receiver’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said. “But Antonio is healthy and is looking forward to his next opportunity in the NFL. He wants to play the game he loves, and he hopes to play for another team soon.”

My take: As long as this investigation is ongoing, Antonio Brown should not play another down in the NFL. Although they are just allegations and he is “innocent until proven guilty,” there is no way an organization can “just ignore” not one, but two allegations of sexual assault.

What really ruined AB’s chance of playing for another team were the photos of the text messaged released by the artists’ lawyer, citing they were “threatening” and “intimidating” towards his client – done WHILE he was a member of the Patriots.

Antonio Brown is one of the most talented wide receivers in the league, but when you are constantly becoming a distraction, teams will not want you and I believe we are at that point where no NFL team will deal with it.

Oakland tried.

New England tried.

Both failed to control the circus act.

Brown’s career in the NFL could likely be over.

Photo credit: Steven Senne/Associated Press